- Winds of change
Arab governments are uneasy about US plans to impose democracy and reform in the region, reports Nevine Khalil
- Crossing the street
Egypt and Iran are inching towards restoring full diplomatic ties. A leap, however, is yet to be taken, reports Rasha Saad
- It must be something in the water
With the controversy over Nile water distribution rearing its ugly head, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday took the initiative of tackling the contentious issue, writes Gamal Nkrumah
- Social reform before the House
Gamal Essam El-Din reviews five new high-profile laws that will be discussed in parliament over the next few weeks
- NCHR asserts its independence
The newly established National Council for Human Rights is slowly getting into gear while fending off criticism from sceptics, reports Gamal Essam El-Din
- No more walls!
- Newsreel
- Balancing reactions
France's controversial anti- hijab bill continues to spark protests on Egyptian campuses. Gihan Shahine talks to analysts in Cairo and Paris about a complex socio-political dynamic
- Print run
Foreign-licensed publications can now print in Egypt, but at a price. Yasmine El-Rashidi reports
- Minister battles with MUST
The conflict between the Ministry of Higher Education and Misr University for Science and Technology took on a new dimension after the two sides took their battle to the press. Mona El-Nahhas investigates
- 'We'll get them'
An Upper Egyptian vendetta consumes four more lives, including a groom on his wedding day. Reem Nafie reports from Beni Mohamed
- The need for nurture
Helping disadvantaged children before it's too late was the subject of a regional conference held in Cairo this week. Amira El-Noshokaty attended
- Protesting 'this evil thing'
Palestinians and international peace activists take to the streets in protest against the separation wall, Khaled Amayreh reports
- The plot thickens
The second phase of the German-brokered prisoner deal between Israel and Hizbullah is far from straightforward, Christian Henderson reports
- Season of promises
The race for the Algerian presidential elections has begun. Amira Howeidy reports
- Conservative finale?
After the conservatives coast to a sweeping electoral victory in Iran, the public is mostly disenchanted and some reformers look simply inept, reports Mustafa El-Labbad
- Bumpy road to sovereignty
Pressure is mounting on the Iraqi Governing Council to put the final touches to the Iraqi interim constitution, but as Omayma Abdel-Latif reports, many issues remain unresolved
- Repairing the failed state
Barham Salih talks to Al-Ahram Weekly about the Fundamental Law due to be signed by 28 February, what the Kurds mean by a federal Iraq and the fraught issue of disputed areas like Kirkuk < Graham Usher >
- Mother Iraq
Women in Iraq fear that the American occupation may have replaced one kind of tyranny with another, writes Graham Usher in Baghdad
- 'It's pouring initiatives' -- hallelujah?
The Arab world is looking askance at foreign initiatives aimed at reforming it < Dina Ezzat >
- Now or never?
Has the time come for a nuclear-free Middle East? < Dina Ezzat >
- Doing their bit
Has the time come for a nuclear-free Middle East? < Dina Ezzat >
- Make or break
The reform of collective Arab institutions is now too important to brook anything but absolute honesty, writes Ibrahim Nafie
- In progress: To place before the public < Sherif Nakhla >
- On the Greater Middle East
Mohamed Sid-Ahmed wonders whether widening the Middle East facilitates the control of its numerous conflicts or the opposite
- Close up: Close up: The Arab-American vote < Salama A Salama >
- Naguib Mahfouz: Crazy world
- Soapbox: Pressing matters < Salah Eissa >
- Future backward
Reading Eretz Israel Times, dated February 2014, Jonathan Cook sends a warning back to the present
- Reflections: Reflections: Friends, Frasier, flotsam < Hani Shukrallah >
- Systemic corruption
So deeply entrenched is corruption that its eradication requires radical and not topical remedies, writes Osama El-Ghazali Harb
- A better Middle East
America and its allies may have plans to redraft the political, social, cultural and economic composition of the Middle East, but true reform comes from within -- as it must, writes Hala Mustafa
- Apartheid cannot stand
A favourable outcome for Palestinians from the hearings held this week in The Hague could presage the beginning of the end of Israel's apartheid policies in the occupied territories, writes Mustafa Barghouti
- Dividing humanity
This week's hearings in The Hague on the legal consequences of the separation wall in the West Bank are critical not only to Palestinians but to the very standing of international law as a limit on US plans for global dominance, writes Curtis Doebbler
- Kofi, are you ready?
The UN can do much to help Iraq. Hassan Nafaa urges the deployment of UN-supervised peace-keepers drawn from neutral states